As the 1-year anniversary my business has come and gone, I’ve been reflecting a lot about the work I’m doing while dreaming about the future.
You see, I have a passion for intentional living because I believe each of us was created with purpose. Life moves along at a fast pace and I know we are all busy. It's easy to feel swept along by busyness as you try to balance it all. I believe in these moments we all need reminders cheering us on to live on purpose and fight for the things most important to us. That's why I feel passionate about using art and words to encourage women to pursue a daily life of purpose, beauty and joy.
I want my work and my words to be an encouragement to you to live your one life well, on purpose and with purpose. I want to remind you that you are beautiful and that sometimes we each need to chase beauty to refill our souls and be reminded of who we really are. And I want to cheer you on to choose joy and be fierce about fighting off the things that try to steal it.
Purpose. Beauty. Joy. This is why I make art, and this is why I created this free ‘Herbal Tea’ stitch sampler for you.
If you’ve ever done hand embroidery or counted cross stitch, you know it takes time. But that’s also the beauty of it. It’s a contemplative craft. It forces us to slow down and delay gratification. We have to wait to see the beauty of our work unfold. And we appreciate it all the more.
Stitching is also meditative. So many times when I am working on a piece, I find myself meditating on the words or motifs in the piece. Embroidery invites that sort of slowness. Perhaps you are a busy mom juggling the care of little ones and the demands of your home. Maybe you are a woman out in the marketplace, balancing personal life with work deadlines. Either way, I’ve created this for you.
This ‘Herbal Tea’ embroidery project is meant to help you carve out some creative time for you to treat yourself to a little self-care - just like a hot cuppa on a quiet morning before the demands of your day begin. Use it to learn something new, to make something beautiful, to exercise your creativity, to treat yourself, and to meditate on your own purpose, beauty and joy.
If you’re new to embroidery, this stitch sampler is meant to be an introduction to various commonly used embroidery stitches. Hand embroidery is a creative outlet that doesn’t require a lot of time or mess. It’s easy to learn, very portable, doesn’t require a huge financial investment, and packs away without a lot of fuss. You won’t need an entire room to store your supplies!
I hope you’ll have some fun with this pattern. I've shared videos of embroidery tips as well as tutorials of each stitch in this project right here. Follow along as you stitch this pattern - I'd love to see your progress! If you post a pic on social media, use the hashtag #purposebeautyjoy to share your work!
Get the free ‘Herbal Tea’ stitch sampler here.